VOICES Archives - Page 3 of 3 - United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

March 20, 2024

Alums VOICES

Bishop Lorna Halaas (’08) Imagines the Future of Seminary and the Church

Born on the prairie of western North Dakota, Bishop Lorna Halaas (’08) grew up in a family of storytellers. She was raised in Lutheran churches and recounts that her faith community was central to her life. One special lay leader—Mrs. Kurth—inspired her to consider ministry as a possibility, even before women could be ordained in her denomination. She recalls, “We had women who served on church staff who did faith formation, who did youth ministry, but I particularly remember a woman who served almost as a pastor. She taught Sunday school, confirmation, and oversaw the Christmas program.” As a young woman, Lorna said to herself, “I want to be Mrs. Kurth when I grow up." Like many women called to ministry, Lorna’s vocational path was not without obstacles. “When I was a kid,” she shares, “women in the Lutheran tradition were not ordained and could not serve as pastors. That was a little over 50 years ago.” Lorna graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, in 1979, just nine years after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) began ordaining women. For many years, she served as a director of Christian education in large congregations in Minot, North Dakota, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and also for the ELCA’s publishing ministry, Augsburg Fortress. So how did a Lutheran end up at United? She surprised herself: “I didn’t know much about United—I knew they had a good Women’s Studies program, and I knew they were very ecumenical and diverse.” While still considering her options, Lorna attended an event at United. The experience was transformative. “I felt like a kid,” proclaiming, “I have found my spot!” Lorna benefited tremendously from the instruction she received from United’s faculty, particularly Professor Emeritus Dr. Eleazar Fernandez and Distinguished Professor Emeritus Rev. Dr. Wilson Yates. She also prized the diversity of students. Citing interreligious and ecumenical partnerships she found at United, Lorna valued the ability to relate across differences through the power of stories. “I was the Lutheran; other students were Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, United Methodist, Muslim, Jewish, along with those from other Christian denominations. We had the most wonderful conversations.” For her, United’s interreligious and ecumenical learning environment felt right. “This is what the world was like... ‘This is my story, now tell me your story, and we will find common ground here in one another’s story.’” Lorna graduated from United in 2008 with an MDiv. In the years following graduation, Lorna served as a pastor in congregations in North Dakota and Iowa. In 2019, she was elected to serve a six-year term as Bishop of the Western Iowa Synod ELCA, overseeing 116 congregations. In keeping with her imaginative family—and, no doubt, the creativity intrinsic to United’s ethos—Lorna centers divine imagination in her view of the world. “If you ask the synod staff who work with me, they will say, ‘She is always asking us about our passion, what we’re curious about, and what might God be imagining for the church today.’” In 2025, Lorna will be up for reelection as Bishop. She believes, however, “it’s time for younger leaders... There are new voices, new ideas.” While many may view the future of congregational ministry warily, Lorna is looking with courage to what lies ahead. Present-day seminarians are preparing to serve a world with unique challenges not often faced by the generations of ministers who came before them. “I see pastors being equipped differently; I see people going to seminary not to do it all, but to preach, teach, and to equip lay people to go beyond the doors of the church and to be the church on the streets, in the shelters; wherever they may go, there God is.” We give thanks for Lorna’s humble, imaginative witness as a friend and alum of United.

March 19, 2024

Public Theology students VOICES

Rev. Shannon Dycus Illuminates the Sacred in Education and Ministry

For DMin student Rev. Shannon Dycus, faith and education have been foundational influences and pursuits. “My story,” Shannon shares, “includes the nurture of wonderful Black women in my life and lineage. My grandmothers and mother modeled faithful and bold ways of living out their calls with ministries that were not allowed to flourish in their contexts.” In high school, a counselor saw her creative and leadership potential for guiding others. At Butler University, she earned a degree in secondary education. While she enjoyed working with young people in the classroom and after-school programs, Shannon felt something was missing. “I felt the gap,” she recalls, “of how to care for their spirits and lead holistically.” When she started at Christian Theological Seminary, Shannon intended to train as a therapist, but, as she recounts, “loving a congregation drew me in the path of an MDiv.” In 2019, she assumed the role of dean of students at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), a private university in Harrisburg, Virginia, that “integrates Christian faith, academic rigor, artistic creation, and reflective practice.” “It all lives in my heart and body as ministry and education,” Shannon explains. “Since graduating from college, I have alternated between leading in ministry settings and learning communities, holding these two parts of myself as overlapping but not fully embraced in any specific space.” Pursuing a Doctoral Degree In early 2023, EMU promoted Shannon to vice president of student affairs and dean of students. Her priorities in this role involve strategically visioning co-curricular learning communities that promote social responsibility, holistic well-being, and academic success for EMU students. She also teaches several undergraduate courses, including a spiritual formation course. She earned a certificate in Spiritual Direction and Formation from San Francisco Theological Seminary. In her current role, Shannon asserts that she is responsible for “nurturing both spiritual and educational formation.” She felt compelled to enter a doctoral program to “do more development to integrate the two as grounding and strength.” While a PhD or EdD would have made sense in her academic context, she needed ample space for ministry too. “I believe the practices of education and ministry are sacred,” Shannon posits, “serving people and communities as they intersect with the hope of God around us. Seeking this degree is rooted in my hope to ground the rest of my career in practical perspectives that allow this belief to flourish.” Choosing United Shannon has been long drawn to those who “do their faith.” These public theologians operate with an awareness of their social context and with a determination to serve and support the common good. “In my search for public theology programs,“ Shannon observes, “United emerged quickly. Mason [Mennenga (’22), Admissions Counselor] was a prophetic voice in my discerning, and Dr. [Demian] Wheeler was the kind of thinker and leader I wanted to learn from.” For her dissertation, Shannon is researching and developing a tool to help faith-based higher education systemically engage practices of liberation. “That,” she explains, “is helping me advance the question of how structures teach power.” She continues: “My doctoral work and my vocation are in rich conversation with each other, like they are sitting on a warm porch drinking sweet tea while listening to each other and the wind hitting the trees. Not only has my role given me the chance to integrate my gifts, this program and my work at United is helping me give voice to the integration growing within me.”

November 13, 2023

Alums Chaplaincy VOICES

Alums Rev. Dr. Sue Allers-Hatlie and Rev. Lynda Lee Promote Healing in Prisons

Rev. Dr. Susan Allers-Hatlie (’85, ’04) and Rev. Lynda Lee (’14) are prison chaplains. Sue, an Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) Certified Educator, teaches CPE to prisoners and seminarians inside Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF)-Stillwater. Lynda, a trauma-informed care specialist, runs a grief and loss class at MCF-Lino Lakes. In their work, both have created uniquely effective means of ministering within prisons. Answering a Call Sue was raised in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and considered being a lawyer or probation officer. Directed by her Lutheran college to a seminary, her burgeoning interest in prison chaplaincy was deemed an unacceptable path. Stepping away, she found a CPE course at the University of Minnesota and a mentor who pointed her to United and the UCC. United offered a contextual formation process to meet Sue’s goals. She studied liberation theology with Rev. Dr. Robert Bryant, Professor Emeritus of Constructive Theology, who took students on an eye-opening trip to Central and South America where poverty and oppression mirrors the US “pipeline to prison.” She completed an internship at MCF-Shakopee, a women’s prison, with alum Carrie Dorfman* (’78). Lynda, a music major in college, has always been creative. She discovered United through a United/Minneapolis Institute of Arts joint project and ARTS: The Arts in Religion and Theological Studies. Gradually, Lynda realized she wanted to work with people in prison and began volunteering. When her friend, Patsy Herbert* (’15), said she was taking classes at United, Lynda decided to apply. Working full time, Lynda earned her MDiv in six years. A CPE unit taught her to recoup energy expended in ministering. United’s arts emphasis helped her value the process of creation as storytelling and subvert the idea of failure. In her final semester, Lynda met Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock, whose book, Soul Repair, reinforced the practice of using art in narrative healing. Making a Difference In 1998, Sue started a DMin at United and Certified Educator Training through ACPE. Rev. Dr. Christie Cozad Neuger (’80), Professor Emerita of Pastoral Counseling and Pastoral Theology, guided Sue’s work in narrative therapy. Sue then offered CPE units in correctional settings. In 2019, she sought funding to expand CPE training to imprisoned leaders so they could gain credits and learn spiritual care skills. It was the first such program in the US. Since finishing CPE units with seminarians and incarcerated leaders, Sue asserts that “doing CPE inside prisons is a way to practice anti-racist commitments, integrate restorative justice, and live out liberation theology.” It is also systems change. Prison chaplaincy is vital to restorative justice. As Lynda explains, when she can help people to deconstruct sources of their pain/grief, become aware of somatic responses to feelings, and accept that past events and actions do not have to define them or their future, a new life story becomes possible. “Real healing,” she adds, comes from “addressing losses that have been unarticulated and offering compassion to those parts of yourself.” Lynda also seeks out relevant spiritual resources for the diversity of faith communities at the prison. For this work, she says, “United continues to offer a deep bench of consults.” “What would I have done without United honoring my deep desire to do this work?” Sue asks. She has won national awards for being prophetic and innovative. “United seminarians,” she adds, “have been amazing, and transformations are literally contagious as the learning unfolds between all of the students!” * Deceased

November 7, 2023

students VOICES

Rev. Canon Tyrone Fowlkes Melds Art and Justice into His Ministry

Born into a religious family, DMin student Rev. Canon Tyrone Fowlkes grew up in what he describes as, for years, “the only Black Wesleyan Church in Indiana—what I affectionately call the ‘old church.’” He credits his upbringing in the church for giving him “the faith for which I will always be grateful.” These days, however, Tyrone has moved past his conservative upbringing and embraced a vision of ministering through faith, justice, and art. “Growing up,” Tyrone remembers, “I had an acute awareness of mistreatment and injustice…and was particularly attuned…when it occurred in the church.” He guesses that a desire to call out unjust treatment of women and those in the LGBTQ+ community perhaps fueled his sense of call to ordination. “I had a burgeoning career as an art director,” Tyrone shares, “when I noticed what felt like a tug at my spirit.” In 1995, he enrolled in an MDiv program at Christian Theological Seminary (CTS)—affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)—in Indianapolis. Choosing United for the Next Step The pandemic caused Tyrone to re-examine his life and future. He already had several years of practical ministry experience, but no clear direction. “Suddenly,” he recounts, “I could sense an urgency to start weaving together my life as an artist, my history in social services, and my passion for justice.” It was time to move on to a doctorate degree. Why United? “I’ve known about United for a long time,” Tyrone explains. He remembers reading United’s journal, ARTS: The Arts in Religion and Theological Studies, at CTS and says it was one of the few resources that allowed him to “envision being an artist and a leader in the church.” In the end, “the decision to enroll at United was the obvious choice.” Preparing for the Future As he pursues his DMin, Tyrone says he’s been gleaning lessons both from faculty and fellow students. “I’m learning,” he says, “that effective religious leadership right now is dependent on openness, understanding, and flexibility. I see great examples of this in my peers who are engaged in some rather challenging ministry contexts.” To make an impact, he asserts, “We now have to minister…in contexts that are increasingly multi-faith, spirituality-fluid, and secular.” Faculty, Tyrone suggests, encourage students to develop the capacity to hold in balance ambiguity and uncertainty while embracing spontaneity and creativity. He credits his Public Theology, Engaging in a Multi-Faith World, and Arts for Leadership classes for “tapping into some of the problem-solving skills which I intuitively practice as an artist in ways that also apply to the various arenas in which I travel as a priest.” At present, Tyrone is serving as the Canon for Congregational Life at Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, a position he accepted last year. He notes that while the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) helped him recognize his ministerial gifts, the Episcopal Church inspired in him the desire to become ordained and step into the priesthood. Tyrone is currently in his 14th year of the priesthood. Equipped with his DMin in Theology and the Arts, Tyrone hopes to “start integrating everything that I have pondered, learned, and experimented with in the arts, in social justice, and in ministry.” He can envision a new model of ministry at the “intersection of faith, justice, and art” that will help faith communities “deepen their connections to the neighborhoods they occupy” and gain the skills they need “to affect social change.”

November 3, 2023

Legacy VOICES

The Lasting Legacy of Hildegard and Marion Bunge

For twin sisters Marion and Hildegard, life centered around church. Their father, Rev. John Bunge, was pastor of Pleasant Prairie Evangelical Church when they were born. Later, he served in judicatory roles and, at the time of his death, was pastor of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ (UCC) in Welcome, Minnesota. Hildegard and Marion grew up in and stayed at St. Paul’s. As their niece, Lisa, explains, “I think church was important to them because that is how they were brought up. Their father was a minister, their mother played the organ, so doing church things were important. It is just what they did.” When their brother, Jonathan (’63†), decided to follow in his father’s footsteps, their mother enlisted the twins to help with tuition expenses. Like many students today, he was able to attend seminary because he had financial support. The sisters gave their first gifts to United in 1967. Tragically, Jonathan died in 1969. In his honor, classmates established the Jonathan Bunge Memorial Scholarship and the sisters’ donations then provided ongoing support to his endowed scholarship. They also planned a legacy gift; in death, as in life, they made a gift to support the Bunge Memorial Scholarship. Identical twins, Marion and Hildegard dressed alike their whole lives. Their lives and work were also closely aligned. Graduates of St. Cloud’s Teacher’s College, they both taught phy ed and health in southern Minnesota. The twins supported girls’ athletics before it was popular. They involved girls in sports, and organized and coached girls’ gymnastics and volleyball in the 1950s and 1960s. Nominated to the Coaches Hall of Fame, State Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame, and the MN State High School League Hall of Fame, they were active with the National Physical Education Association and traveled to the 1960 Rome Olympics. Though they retired in 1981, the sisters remained active. They were very involved in St. Paul’s UCC, worked for Habitat for Humanity, and enjoyed traveling, walking, gardening, and visiting family. Jonathan Bunge isn’t the only alum in the family. In 2004, 41 years after Jonathan earned his degree, his grandson—Rev. Brian Wohlhuter—graduated. Brian chose United because he wanted to attend a UCC-affiliated seminary and serve as a UCC minister. Brian says of United, “It was invaluable in my faith formation. It was at United where my childhood beliefs were challenged and I was forced to form my own thoughts and beliefs around my Christian faith…United gave me the freedom to ask questions and not be chastised for doing so. The ability to question, and yet take seriously, what the Bible says allowed me to form my beliefs and make my faith my own.” At the time of her death in 2023, Hildegard was 97. Marion died two years earlier, almost to the day, at 95. Services were held at their church home and Brian preached at both funerals. As he described his great-aunts, Brian said, “For them, a way to live out their faith and express their Christianity was to be vital members of the church…the [physical one] and the wider United Church of Christ. They gave of themselves to support both.” Marion and Hildegard’s faithful gifts to their brother’s Bunge Scholarship will support the wider church for years to come as they support the next generation of leaders. Blessed be the memory of the inspirational Bunge sisters. † Deceased

July 4, 2023

Alums Arts theology and the arts VOICES

2023 Graduate Stephani Pescitelli and the Power of YES, AND…

Stephani Pescitelli, who graduated April 30, 2023 with an MDiv in Theology and the Arts, admits that United wasn’t even on her radar when she first felt called to seminary. She intended to enroll in a Unitarian Universalist (UU) seminary. Still, after a phone call with a kind soul in United’s admissions office, followed by a whirlwind visit with faculty, alums, and students during a February blizzard (naturally), the uniquely heartfelt and open sense of welcome, and United’s arts and theology program won her over. As she recalls, “I walked out into the bitter cold after that day carrying a warm, welcoming, enthusiastic YES! Lessons Learned at United Though she could have safely stayed in her UU community, Stephani is thankful she was exposed to so many differing faith traditions and histories at United. One “gift of learning…in classrooms and conversations with voices from other traditions,” she shares, “is appreciating how all of our traditions have evolved in relation, often in syncretic ways, even when in opposition.” “Sometimes,” she adds, “confronting these differences and histories is uncomfortable and has meant learning to speak and listen to different… perspectives, letting go of the coziness of knowing, and stepping into the practice of saying YES, AND to others.” This practice of affirmation and openness is important for spiritual leaders who must face myriad challenges in today’s world. Personal relationships are also key. “The relationships I’ve cultivated at United,” Stephani emphasizes, “are the most important gift I’ve received.…I can’t imagine any other graduate program or learning community where I could have truly practiced the messy, beautiful new ways of creating, relating, and leading together.” “United to me is what I wanted and needed church to be,” Marjorie asserts. “It is a non-judgemental place where I am able to think theologically, I'm able to experience the spirit, but also to have intellectual discourse around what I believe to be true and what it is like to be with other Christ-centered people who believe differently than I do, but we have this core place of connection.” Looking to the Future Thanks to connections made while in seminary, Stephani’s future is rapidly taking shape. Through a research project for Dr. Awes Freeman’s Images and Ideologies course about the changing landscape of monuments, last summer she was able to intern with a national nonprofit, Monument Lab. Now, since presenting research about a community arts approach to saving memories and sharing stories at the Midwest American Academy of Religion Meeting, she’s Monument Lab’s part-time partnership research associate. “I am grateful,” Stephani says, “to be able to bring this unique perspective and the holistic formational and practical leadership training I received as an MDiv student to this important art and social justice work at Monument Lab.” At the same time, Stephani is exploring a call to support people one-on-one, and hopes to focus on “offering discernment and relational spiritual care to makers, seekers, and activists through creative embodied practice.” Learn more on her website: stephanipescitelli.com. Stephani credits her experiences and education at United for making these and other vocational options possible. As she explains, “Engaging in rigorous academic and rich formational learning within a community full of diverse, dynamic beliefs and spiritual backgrounds has helped me to contextualize and deepen my own theologies. It has also increased my desire and capacity for building coalitions across differences in my leadership work and in relationships beyond seminary.” No matter where she goes after commencement, Stephani now knows “that the most important repair and liberation is done…within our five-foot radius.” She adds, “I am lucky that my immediate circle has included some of the finest faculty, co-conspirators, dance—and wrestling—partners, and humans, and even luckier to be able to carry these relationships with me in whatever lies ahead.”

June 21, 2023

Alums VOICES

Alum Marjorie Grevious (’18) Promotes Spiritual Wellness through Yoga Ministry | VOICES

Yoga and church were childhood pillars for 2018 alum Marjorie D. Grevious. She estimates that she started doing yoga alongside her mother at age three, and that the practice of yoga ran “parallel to my journey as a church girl raised in the Black missionary church tradition of the south.” Those two pillars remained constant, but separate, until United helped Marjorie connect her core beliefs as a Christian and her spiritual practice of yoga. The Path to United For most of her career—with an MS in Human Services and Community Counseling and Psychology—Marjorie worked with young people who were “caught in cycles of crisis and chaos most often caused by the unstable/unhealthy adults in their lives.” Part of the impetus for taking advanced training in yoga, and attending seminary, was Marjorie’s desire to not just treat the symptoms of dysfunction, but to “help people at the core of their being.” After completing a 200-hour yoga training in 2012, her first students were teen girls caught in the juvenile justice system. “I was amazed,” Marjorie says, “by the immediate effect a single yoga class had on their overly stressed minds and hyper-reactive bodies.” At the same time, she knew there was more to learn. Connecting Faith and Yoga At United, Marjorie realized “that ordination and formal church work was not the call that God has on my life.” Still, the relationships she built, the community she found, and the scholarship in which she engaged were what she needed. “United to me is what I wanted and needed church to be,” Marjorie asserts. “It is a non-judgemental place where I am able to think theologically, I'm able to experience the spirit, but also to have intellectual discourse around what I believe to be true and what it is like to be with other Christ-centered people who believe differently than I do, but we have this core place of connection.” “I think the beauty of my United education,” she adds, “was how big the conversations were. You were not trapped by dogma or by denominational restrictions.” Learning about “seminary siblings’” plans also gave Marjorie the inspiration to lean into her strengths as a yoga teacher and person of faith. It seemed obvious after that; a yoga ministry became possible. After all, as Marjorie readily confesses, “I feel in touch with the sacred, with that which is bigger than myself, on my yoga mat; when life gets big and life gets full, I go to my yoga mat.” There are other connections too. Notes Marjorie: “The philosophies behind yoga, the 195 yoga sutra statements created by Patañjali, are very parallel to what we read and study in the Bible in terms of how we treat ourselves, how we treat each other, and how we move through the world.” Living into Her Purpose These days, Marjorie is an instructor at Yoga Sanctuary and operates a private practice at Temple Within. She has many more hours of training under her belt and is certified in five types of yoga, several designed to support individuals with histories of trauma. Ultimately, Marjorie is happy to teach how the practice of yoga can realign each person’s sense of physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. She is grateful, she says, that United helped her “to define my passion and fulfill my purpose of offering spiritual wellness as a way of being for all God’s people.”

June 6, 2023

UCC VOICES

Mizpah Church Offers United a Legacy Scholarship Fund | VOICES

Rev. Rebecca Lemenager (’01) was only seven when she knew she wanted to be a minister. All she needed was fertile soil in which to nurture that calling. Mizpah United Church of Christ (Mizpah), her home congregation in Hopkins, Minnesota, provided that nurture. Now, as Mizpah comes to the end of its life as a church, members have decided to provide a legacy of support for new pastors by establishing the Mizpah Church, United Church of Christ, Endowed Scholarship at United for UCC students who pursue ministry. Mizpah’s vital ministry spanned 125 years, providing a place for worship and spiritual formation as well as community support. Members played an active role by supporting a teen clinic, the Crisis Nursery, Loaves and Fishes, and more. In closing, they are making final financial gifts to those long-supported groups. Their gift of the scholarship to United will hold the Mizpah name in perpetuity. As decisions were being made, Linda Williams, a member of the Mizpah council, advocated for the new scholarship. Her husband, who attended the University of Minnesota in Duluth (UMD), started a scholarship fund with his college friends to support new UMD business students. That practice, and Rebecca’s urging, inspired them to find a way to support new ministers. “It is really important to help people who want to become ministers,” Linda says. “We don’t want the cost of seminary to be a barrier.” Rebecca adds, “When pastors graduate with debt, they have to make decisions about where they are called based on the compensation a congregation can provide. Having less debt opens up the possibility of serving a smaller congregation.” Mizpah and United have many connections. Both Rebecca and her mother, Betty Wentworth (’86), were United graduates. Rev. Coqui Conkey (’02), currently the Interim Pastor at Urbandale UCC, also came to United from Mizpah. Over the years, many pastors, interns, and students crossed paths from United to Mizpah and from Mizpah to United. Both places were known for their love of the arts and theological depth, both inviting people to wrestle with important questions. Ordained 21 years ago, Rebecca has served a variety of churches. For the last decade, she has been working at the Virginia Public Library, but on Sundays, you will find her answering her call in new ways. Last year, she provided pulpit supply 30 Sunday mornings for churches in five different denominations. She appreciates the fact that United broadened her understanding and passion for ecumenism. This year, she plans on doing even more pulpit supply, believing that supporting churches that might not be able to otherwise afford a pastor is a valuable service. Rebecca loved her time at United, stating that it prepared her well for what she is doing with the right mix of academic rigor, social justice, and pastoral care woven together. “We live in a polarized, hurting world. We need people who are willing to have a vision of what this world can be, leaders who can share that vision. United helped me learn those skills.” Rebecca goes on to say, “Most of us knew we weren’t going to become The Rev. Peter Gomes at Harvard, but that didn’t mean that we weren’t going to change a little piece of the world. That is true of Mizpah also. They weren’t ever the biggest church in the conference, but in small and important ways, we changed the little corner of our community.” Through the creation of this endowed scholarship, Mizpah’s 125 years of ministry will persist in a new form, transforming little pieces of the world through congregational ministry.